The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2
by coolhacker1025
Summary: This is a sequel to "A Missed Traffic Light or The Bonds of Friendship' It is now second year. What surprises are in store for Harry, Ginny and Hermione this year? H/Hr/G
1. The Three Summers

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 1: Three Summers

Ginny Weasley was about to turn eleven. While normally there is nothing unusual about that, Ginny was also going to start her second year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Another unusual thing about her was that she was a witch and not just any witch. She was a witch bonded with two of the most powerful eleven-year-olds in Britain. This meant that she was receiving regular 'uploads' (as Hermione had put it) of emotions and pain (in some cases) from her bondmates.

'Mum,' she said one day in early July. 'When are we going to get Harry? Something's been stopping him getting post.'

'I told the Muggles,' said her mother, 'That we would pick him up in time for his birthday.'

'The Muggles wouldn't mind. They hate him' argued Ginny. 'They treat him like a house-elf. They hit him, and they barely give him enough food to live.'

'How do you know this?' asked her mother.

'Harry, Hermione and I have some sort of Bond' replied Ginny. 'Right now, I believe that he's been told to clean the windows, wash the car, walk on the newspaper, and cut the grass, and they only give him a tiny slice of bread.'

'So that's what Hermione was talking about when you got off the train,' mused Mrs Weasley as she patted her daughter on the back. 'I'll talk with Dumbledore and your Father to see what we can do. By the way, does the Headmaster know about this?'

'Of our bond?' asked Ginny. 'He and I think Madame Pomfrey know that there is quite a bond between the Three of us.'

\\/

Earlier that summer, another witch who had just finished a year at Hogwarts was being interrogated by her parents.

'You said at the train station that Ginny is your "girlfriend" and this Harry is your "boyfriend."' stated Mr Dan Granger, a dentist. 'What context do you use these terms?'

'What your father is trying to ask is are you...' Dan's wife Emma said, trailing off before motioning with her hands.

'We're not having intimate relations, if that's what you are asking,' replied Hermione. 'In the magical world, there is a thing called a "Bond," which binds two or more people together. In this case, we can upload information to each other, and I can feel parts of their emotions. Right now, Ginny is rather annoyed at her Twin Brothers for some reason, and Harry is being worked like a dog. The Dursleys seem to think that he is their personal slave.'

'Well what's being done about Harry?' asked Emma.

'Mrs Weasley and her family are going to retrieve him later this summer,' replied Hermione. 'I'm not exactly sure when, because something is stopping Harry from getting post.'

'Did you try the normal way?' asked Dan. 'Maybe whatever is stopping the post will let the Royal Mail deliver something.'

'He warned me against doing that,' said Hermione. 'Just now, I mean. The Dursleys would destroy any post that came for him.'

'Have you started your holiday assignments yet?' asked her mother.

\\/

Mr and Mrs Dursley of #4 Privet Drive were quite normal, thank-you very much. They had a son named Dudley, and in their opinion, there was no finer boy anywhere. The Dursleys also had a secret—their nephew who came to live with them after the death of his parents. The secret wasn't necessarily about Harry, no, it was about his abnormality.

Harry Potter, their nephew and the third bondmate, was a wizard, and it was the Dursley's greatest fear that someone would find that fact out. Normally, the Dursleys pretended that Harry didn't exist, except when they wanted anything done about the house. According to the Dursleys, Harry was 'mentally unstable' and went to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.

The Dursleys were making sure that Harry had nearly no down-time this summer, so that he wouldn't be able to do any 'freaky things.' They had also locked away his trunk in the cupboard beneath the stairs, but Harry had liberated his things early in the summer when the Dursleys were distracted. For some reason, Ginny knew how to pick locks.

Hedwig wasn't happy at all. The Dursleys kept her chained in her cage so that Harry couldn't receive messages from his 'freaky friends.' How she longed to stretch out her wings and fly and hunt.

Harry knew that at various points in the summer, his bondmates had been talking about him. As 31 July grew closer, Harry became more excited, and the Dursleys more brutal. For not pruning the rosebushes properly, Harry was punched in the face by his uncle. For being in the house, Dudley attempted to punch him. Harry, however, was quick, and dodged all the blows.

On the eve of his liberation from the Dursleys, Harry went to his bedroom to find it was already occupied. There was a creature on his bed with large bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.

'Hello' Harry said to the creature. 'Who exactly are you?'

'I'm Dobby, Dobby the House-elf,' the creature said.

\\/

At the Burrow, the Weasleys were having supper. Molly had cooked mountains of food, as she always did. Nearly a third of the food was consumed by their youngest son, Ronald.

'Mum,' asked Ginny. 'Could a house-elf stop a person's mail?'

Molly didn't know the answer, but Arthur chimed in. 'If their master was ordering them to,' he started, 'A house-elf could do nearly anything. Why do you ask?'

'Harry just received a visit from a House-elf named Dobby,' replied Ginny. 'The elf claims that there is a most evil plot this year at Hogwarts.'

'Malfoy's the only one with a house-elf that would talk about evil goings-on at Hogwarts,' Arthur said to himself. 'Maybe I can catch the damned fool unawares and raid his house. There has to be something illegal in there.'

'Now, Arthur, Don't go cutting off more than you can chew,' said Molly. After dinner, the Weasley parents dismissed the boys and started to talk to Ginny.

'Can you tell Harry information?' asked Arthur. 'Tell him we will pick him up using the car tomorrow. I can ask about that elf then.'

'He's quite excited,' responded Ginny. 'He wants to be here as soon as possible.'

The next day, around noon, the Weasleys took off in their Ford Anglia towards Little Whinging. When they knocked on the door, they were greeted by what looked like a cross between a pig and a small whale.

'Yes?' the whale asked the group. The Weasleys were wearing (mostly) Muggle clothing, so they didn't stand out too much.

'We're looking for a Mister Harry Potter, if it is at all possible,' said Arthur. 'And his Uncle Vernon Dursley, for that matter, too.'

'One minute,' the whale spat as he tried to close the door. Unfortunately for him, Arthur's foot was quicker and stopped the door from closing.

'Dad!' called Dudley. 'The freaks are here to pick up the freak!'

'Get out of my house!' bellowed Vernon as he raced towards the door at his (quite low) top speed.

'We simply want to retrieve Harry and not draw this out any further,' said Arthur, making sure that Vernon could see his wand.

'You can't do magic here!' said Vernon. 'They'd think it was the freak and expel him!'

Arthur took the wand out fully, and jabbed it into Vernon's large neck. 'Do you really want to test me?' he said to the Muggle, who looked almost frightened enough to mess himself.

'The freak is upstairs,' said Vernon. 'Now, we won't see the fr...I mean, the boy, until next summer, correct?'

'Unless you wish to see him sooner,' offered Arthur as the Twins brought Harry's trunk down. Harry was following close behind. Harry immediately headed to the door. He was just about to walk out when Arthur stopped him.

'You aren't going to say goodbye?' Arthur addressed the Dursleys. 'You're not going to see your nephew until next summer.'

'No, it's all right,' said Harry.

'Good-bye, then,' grunted Uncle Vernon.

The twins opened Hedwig's cage, and then put his trunk into the car. Hedwig flew around, waiting to see where her Boy was going.

Fred decided to help Hedwig out. 'We're going to a place called The Burrow in Ottery St Catchpole.' Hedwig seemed to understand and took off. The Weasleys and Harry then piled into the car, which Harry noticed had been magically enlarged, and took off for Ottery St Catchpole. In a shorter time then Harry expected, they were pulling into a dusty lane. At the end of the lane stood a house that looked like it was put together with magic (which, knowing the Weasleys, it probably was).

'Welcome, Harry,' said Arthur. 'To the Burrow. It's not much, but it's home.'

'I think it's fantastic.'


	2. The Burrow

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 2—The Burrow

It was nearing supper-time when Ginny heard the car, her father's modified Ford Anglia, coming down the road. She immediately went downstairs. When she saw Harry get out of the car, she ran out of the kitchen yelling, 'HARRY!' When she got to the car, she hugged him. The Twins looked amused at this.

Ginny turned to look at her brothers. 'Don't you dare!' she said to them with a look that promised a good hexing to the first person to make fun of her or Harry. _It feels so good to be near Harry again, _Ginny thought, right as she heard, _It feels so good to be near Ginny again._

'Harry, did you just say something?' she asked.

'I didn't say anything, no,' he responded. He went to her ear and whispered, 'I think that the bond is accelerating a little.'

The Weasleys went into the kitchen, where Molly was making supper. 'You're much too thin, Harry' she said. 'Dinner will be in a couple of minutes. Why don't you take your things up to Ron's room. Just go up until you can't go up any more—he's on the top floor, right below the attic.'

Harry got Hedwig's cage and his trunk and started to haul them up the stairs. 'Could you keep it down? I'm trying to work here!' said a voice as Harry went up another flight of stairs. The door on that level open, and a boy walked out.

'Hullo, Percy,' greeted Harry. 'How's your summer going?'

'It's very well thank-you' responded Percy the Prefect. 'But could you keep it down? I'm trying to work.'

_Work?_ Thought Harry. _We're on holiday from school. Certainly Percy didn't let his school-work go this late into the summer. I wonder what he's doing?_

Harry went up a couple more flights until he got to the top. There was a door labelled, "Ronald's Room." Harry knocked. 'Come in,' said Ron.

When Harry went in, he almost thought there was something wrong with his vision. The whole room was a bright orange—the bed sheets, the walls, the carpet—and they all seemed to feature the same seven players. One of the posters on the wall proclaimed the players to be part of the Chudley Cannons.

'Your Quidditch team?' asked Harry.

'Yep.' replied Ron. 'The Chudley Cannons—15th in the league.'

If Harry hadn't known how many teams were in the Quidditch league, this may have sounded impressive. It was not. Harry knew from his reading (_Chudley Cannons: A History of a Fine Quidditch Team)_ that the Cannons had a losing streak that dated to 1969. And before that, they hadn't won since the Kennedy had won the Presidency of the United States.

'Ron, your mum said that supper's almost ready' said Harry.

'Oh, good,' said Ron. He immediately passed the bookshelves with the comic book _The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle _and bounded towards the door and down the steps. It was now that Harry saw a camp bed set up for him next to Ron's bed. Harry followed Ron down to the kitchen.

After a nice meal of onion soup and bread, Mrs Weasley went into the other room for a minute. Ginny knew exactly what her mother was doing, as she smelled candles burning after a minute. Her mother appeared in the doorway with a large chocolate-frosted cake. The family took that as a cue to sing "Happy Birthday" to Harry, who really didn't know what to say.

'This is the first time anyone has ever celebrated my birthday,' he said. 'I mean, last year, yeah, I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, but it's not like we _celebrated _my birthday. Thank you, Mrs Weasley.'

At this point Ginny could see that Harry was holding back tears.

Later on that night, Ginny heard her mother say, 'Enough with that Mrs Weasley business.' She then lowered her voice so it was hard for Ginny to hear. 'I know about your bond with Ginny. As you're going to be part of the family anyway, you can call me "Molly" or "mum".'

\\/

The next morning, the Weasleys got a post owl addressed to Ginny and Harry. It was postmarked from France, but was unmistakably Hermione's neat handwriting.

_Dear Ginny (and Harry, if the Weasleys managed to successfully rescue you)_

_I hope that you're all right. I'm having a great time here in France. I hope that the Muggles didn't give you any problems when you went to retrieve Harry. If they did, we can always send in my parents, they're dentists (_a type of tooth-healer)_. Most Muggles are afraid of them._

_I got my school-work done weeks ago, and my family will be back in London Wednesday to pick up my books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening, either by post or the other method. _("What other method?" asked Ron)

_Love to you both and to all of the Weasleys,_

_Hermione Granger_

'Well, that's good,' said Molly. 'The letters should be here any day now.'

Just as her mother said that, Ginny could see a speck getting larger in the distance, coming towards them. Within thirty seconds, it got close enough for Ginny to identify it as a barn owl. The owl had a large envelope in its beak.

'It's your Hogwarts letters' said Mrs Weasley.

\\/

The next Wednesday, the Weasley family went to Diagon Alley. As soon as he heard they were taking Floo Powder, Harry groaned. 'I hate that stuff!' he moaned. He threw his into the fire and said 'Diagon Alley!' A couple of minutes later, he landed in the Leakey Cauldron.

\\/

The children did their shopping until it came time to get their books. As they were approaching the bookshop, there was a large queue. It was only then that they noticed a sign on the door.

_Gilderoy Lockhart _

_will be signing copies of his autobiography _

Magical Me _today 12:30 to 16:30_

'Merlin's beard,' said Hermione. 'He's written nearly the entire book-list!'

A photographer pushed past Ginny. 'You could say sorry!' she said to the photographer. This caused Lockhart to look at the crowd from his podium. He noticed Ginny, and then noticed who was standing next to her.

"Harry Potter?" he asked, and Harry was pulled to the front for a photo.

\\/

After the photo with Lockhart, Malfoy Junior taunted Ginny and Harry, and Hermione had to step in.

'Letting a Mudblood talk for you?' asked Draco. 'Your family has sunk lower than I thought. Associating with Mudbloods and Weasleys, that's not a good combination.'

'Now, now, Draco,' said a man walking up behind Draco. This man could only be Lucius Malfoy, as he looked like a larger version of his son. Arthur Weasley walked up behind Ron.

'Lucius' he said coolly.

'Arthur' Lucius responded. 'I hear it's a busy time at the Ministry? I hope that they're paying you overtime...'

Lucius took a book from Ginny's cauldron, where they had been putting her books. 'Obviously not' Lucius said as he pushed the cauldron over. The scene quickly degenerated into a fistfight between the two men that was only broken up when Hagrid pulled them apart.

'You should've ignored him, Arthur,' said Hagrid after Lucius returned the book he had taken. 'They're all rotten to the core, the whole family. You don't need to mess around with them.'

Molly was beside herself with rage, 'Getting into a fight in Diagon Alley? Oh, what Lockhart must think of us now! This is a fine example to set for your children, Arthur!'

'Lockhart loved it' said one of the Twins. 'Trying to get the bloke from the _Daily Prophet _to include it in the story.' said the other.

\\/

During the days at the Burrow, they could play Quidditch, as long as they didn't fly too high (there was a Muggle town in the vicinity). Her brothers finally gave Ginny the respect she deserved and let her play with them (the fact she had caught the Snitch to win the Quidditch Cup _really _didn't hurt her).

The family had great fun until the last day of August, when they had to start getting ready for school. As she was putting her schoolbooks (most of which Harry had bought), she noticed something extra. A diary belonging to a Tom Marvolo Riddle.

A/N: Hermione's letter is adapted from HP:COS American edition pg 45 (First Hardback edition)


	3. The Platform and the Fraud

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 3—The Platform and the Fraud

_As she was putting her schoolbooks (most of which Harry had bought), she noticed something extra. A diary belonging to a Tom Marvolo Riddle. The funny thing about the diary was that there was nothing written in it._

Ginny put the diary with the rest of her things and resumed packing. Tomorrow, she would see Hermione again for the first time since they met a Diagon Alley. She was also rather excited about starting her Second Year at Hogwarts. The world famous Gilderoy Lockhart would be teaching Defence. Ginny and Harry felt that there was something a little off about Lockhart. Hermione seemed to be enamoured by him (and if that were the case, Ginny would be rather ticked off).

That evening, Molly cooked up a sumptuous dinner that included many of Ginny and Harry's favourite things, culminating in a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Then, the Twins set of quite a display of fireworks.

The next morning, it took everyone quite a while to get started, even though they all got up at dawn. Ginny quite quickly realised that Harry didn't quite realise the extent of the charms on the Car. It was bigger on the inside, so it could fit all their trunks, animals, and bodies quite easily.

Soon, the Weasleys were on their way to King's Cross Station. For a while, Arthur was arguing with Molly about using some of the 'special features' of the car that Arthur himself had installed, that included Flight Ability, the Ability to get through traffic quicker, and an Invisibility Booster to supplement the Flight Ability. Molly metaphorically put her foot down, saying that they would not use any of the extras. Nonetheless, the Weasleys still got to the station a lot earlier than they should have, but they still only had fifteen minutes to get to Platform 9 ¾.

Having heard the threats of the House-elf, the Weasleys figured that everyone would go in as large groups as possible. Arthur actually personally Apparated Harry onto the platform, seeing as he would be the elf's most likely target. Only Ron needed to come through, but he found it to be blocked. _The elf mistimed the charm! _ He thought. That's about all he thought, though, as he was quickly moving his trolley back to the Weasley car.

Harry, Hermione and Ginny managed to find an open compartment on the train quite quickly. They were joined shortly afterwards by one of Ginny's childhood friends, the girl who lived just over the hill, Luna Lovegood. Since her mum died, Luna had been even more strange than she had been before. Ginny figured it was her coping mechanism.

Luna and the Trio actually managed to have a good conversation on the way to Hogwarts. Her mum had been in Gryffindor, and her father in Ravenclaw. Although she really wanted to be in Ravenclaw, she didn't know whether the Ravenclaws would understand her.

"You three are connected aren't you?" the blond girl asked in a sort-of airy voice.

"How did you know?" asked the Trio, but Luna just smiled and said, "I won't tell. I never do."

Soon, they were at Hogwarts, and Luna was going with Hagrid to the boats, and Ginny and the others were taking the horseless-carriages to the school with the rest of the non-First Years. Ginny got a good seat at the Gryffindor table and noticed that her brother was missing.

Even more troubling was the absence of Snape from the Head Table. _It doesn't bode well for whichever student is on the receiving end of his wrath,_ Ginny thought. Within a couple of minutes, the house tables were filled, and the new students were led in. Professor McGonagall told the first-years about the sorting ceremony, and the hat sang its song. Ginny wasn't really paying attention to the song.

Before long, a small boy named Colin Creevey was sorted into Gryffindor and later, Luna Lovegood was unexpectedly placed into Gryffindor. Another ten minutes, and the sorting was done.

\\/

Ginny was quite glad when she got up to her dormitory that evening. Creevey was worse than she thought, and both Hermione and Harry agreed. All throughout dinner, Colin had been trying to talk non-stop about his life, the Boy-Who-Lived, his parents, Harry Potter, photography, and Harry Potter. It was really quite annoying, actually. One interesting thing was that Luna seemed to find him interesting.

After dinner, Ginny heard what Ron had done. When he couldn't get through, he stole the Weasley's car and flew it to Hogwarts. There were two unfortunate things for him, though. First, he was Seen by Muggles in London. Second, Filch caught him trying to sneak into the castle. Third, Ron crashed into the one tree in England that hit back—the tree known as the Whomping Willow.

Filch had soon turned the duty of punishing Ron to Snape, who did his usual threatening before fetching McGonagall and Dumbledore. After getting a talking-to from McGonagall and Dumbledore, Gryffindor was in the red 50 points and Ron got a detention.

The next morning, Ron got a Howler—an actual red-envelope shouting-at-you Howler, not the feeble imitation of a live Molly Weasley shouting. By the end of it, the whole of Hogwarts was laughing at Ron.

Their first class was Herbology. When they walked down to the Greenhouses, Ginny noticed Professor Lockhart talking to Professor Sprout.

"Hello, there," the blond professor with perfect teeth said. "I was just showing Professor Sprout how to deal with a Whomping Willow. I came across one during my travels once—for details see my collected works."

Ginny noticed that Professor Sprout was looking thoroughly disgruntled.

\\/

Over the next couple of weeks, Ginny started to write in the diary. The amazing thing was that it would write back. It introduced itself as 'Tom.'

\\/

The next day in classes, Ron was having trouble with his wand. It seems that when he crashed into the Willow, his wand had been partially broken. Harry suggested that he write home for a new one, but Ron didn't like that idea, as he figured he would get another Howler.

"It's all your fault" he mimicked in a high voice, obviously trying to imitate his mother.

"Well, in this case, Ronald," said Hermione. "It _is _your fault. You drove a bloody car to Hogwarts! How irresponsible is that?"

As they sat eating their lunch, Harry wondered what class they had next. He was answered immediately over the Bond. It was their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Gilderoy Lockhart.

Ginny was disgusted when she entered the classroom for Defence. All along the walls were posters of Lockhart smiling and waving at them. _This guy's an egomaniac! _Ginny thought.

Right before class was about to start, Ginny noticed a commotion in the hallway between Harry, Malfoy, and Creevey. Lockhart diffused the situation, and Harry came into the classroom and nearly vomited at the sight of that many posters of Lockhart. He told her and Hermione that he would tell them after class what happened.

Lockhart went to the front of the room and announced, "Meet your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, me! Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class; Honorary Member of the Dark Arts Defence League; five-time winner of _Witch Weekly's_ most charming smile award."

The class went downhill from there.

\\/

Later that day, as usual, The Trio were in the Library, even though they hadn't been set any homework yet. Hermione was poring over her Lockhart books and was frowning.

"I don't have any proof," she said. "But something is off about Lockhart. That quiz was three pages of small text about Lockhart. Not about curses or creatures, but about Lockhart. I just can't put my finger on it."

She looked almost more frustrated than she had ever been.

"He seems not to know much about creatures," added Ginny. "Everyone knows that you don't do that to 'Freshly caught Cornish pixies'. They are nasty creatures."

\\/

_What had she done that evening? _ Ginny wondered. She couldn't remember a thing after dinner. She would bring it up to her bondmates at some point in the near future. She told Tom about it, but he didn't seem to be too concerned.

A/N: Harry Potter, etc. is not mine, and belongs to J. K. Rowling and the appropriate rights-holders. Some of the text is adapted from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (American hardback first edition)


	4. Broomsticks

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 4

_What had she done that evening? Ginny wondered. She couldn't remember a thing after dinner. She would bring it up to her bondmates at some point in the near future. She told Tom about it, but he didn't seem to be too concerned._

Lockhart didn't bring any more magical animals to class in the next couple of weeks. Instead, they were doing creative impressions of the stories from his books. Harry seemed to be trying to avoid two people, Ginny noticed, Colin Creevey and Gilderoy Lockhart. Colin was always trying to take pictures and generally hero-worship Harry, and Lockhart kept trying to give him useless advice.

One morning, Ginny was rudely awakened by a localised Cannon-blast charm at 06:00. When she went down to the Common Room to see what was the matter, she saw the other girls on the Quidditch team in the same condition as her. Then, she noticed the boys slowly coming down from their dormitories, followed by Wood. Apparently, to compensate for the fact that he couldn't go up the stairs to the Girl's Dormitories, he had learned how to do a localised charm. Ginny was impressed by the charm work, but not with the hour.

"This year, we are going to train harder, faster, and smarter," said Wood as he led them down to the locker room, where he promptly took out a number of boards and started to describe plays. A few hours later, Wood was finishing up.

"One question, Wood," asked one of the Twins.

"Why couldn't you explain this when we were actually awake?" asked the other.

\\/

A while later, Colin was attempting to get photos of the Gryffindor team from the stands. Wood noticed, and accused him of being a Slytherin spy. That's when Ginny pointed out that the Slytherins didn't need a spy, as they were already here themselves.

"What are you doing here?" asked Wood. "I booked the pitch specially!"

"Well that's easy," said the captain of the Slytherin team. Ginny thought his name was Fire or Flint or something. "We have a signed letter from our head of house. _I, Severus Snape, hereby give the Slytherin team permission to Practise today on the Quidditch Pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker. _So, we have permission, you don't. Get a note next time, Scum."

"You have a new Seeker?" asked Wood. "Who?"

Just then Ginny noticed the blond boy, the spawn of the nemesis of her family and of her house, Draco Malfoy.

"Aren't you the son of LuciusMalfoy?" asked Fred.

"It's uh...funny that you should mention Draco's father," said Flint. "As we also have something else new on the team."

The Slytherin team turned their brooms around, so that the words _Nimbus 2001 _could be seen on each of them.

"Well at least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way on," said Hermione who, seeing trouble brewing, had come down to the field with Ron.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood!" said Draco.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy!" yelled Ron, pointing his wand at Draco. Unfortunately, the broken wand backfired and hit Ron with the spell.

\\/

_Another night that I can't remember what I did_, thought Ginny. _Something odd is happening. I should tell Tom. See what he thinks._

\\/

Soon, it was Halloween. Ginny and Harry had been in touch with broom manufacturers from around Britain to sponsor the Gryffindor team. They soon got a response from the Comet Company, the Second largest broom manufacturer in Britain.

_Dear Mr Potter _(the letter said),

_We here at the Comet Broom Company would be delighted to sponsor the Gryffindor Quidditch team. We really hope that you will accept our generous donation, and use the Comet Broom yourself._

_We hope that you have a good Quidditch season, and remember, there's nobody faster than Comet._

_Timothy Gifford, President and CEO of Comet Broom Company, Inc._

Later on that week, they got similar letters from Banadl Broom Company (Cardiff, Wales) and Giolcach Broom Company (Dublin, Republic of Ireland) for the other two Hogwarts teams (with the approval of each head of house, of course). For once, Harry was using his fame for himself.

A week before the first Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, representatives from each of the three companies came to present the brooms to their sponsored teams. Comet Brooms would perhaps get the most attention out of this publicity stunt, as Harry Potter was now riding a Comet 9000, their newest model, comparable to the Nimbus 2001 line, the Banadl Firebar, and the Giolcach Beast Five (which just happened to be the models that were given to the players).

When Malfoy saw this, he was ticked off. Fortunately for him, representatives from Nimbus (who had celebrated a great coup the year before, as Harry Potter rode a Nimbus) came to share in the publicity.

The next morning, there were bold headlines in the _Prophet. __**New Era for Hogwarts Quidditch:**__ Potter gets major companies to "Sponsor" teams at Hogwarts_ and _**Potter decimates new Slytherin advantage: **__Concerned parents are unhappy._ Ginny decided to read the second story first.

_Hogwarts School_

_Lisa Kimcorn_

_In a stunning move, the major Broom Manufacturers of Great Britain and of Ireland have agreed to sponsor teams in the inter-House Quidditch Championship at Hogwarts. In a joint statement, the Companies said that this move would, "Remove wealth as a determiner as to who plays Quidditch. In this new scheme, even families poorer than the Weasleys can have brooms that are the same quality as the other members of the teams._

_One concerned parent, speaking from his Wiltshire Mansion, said that this is a fiendish move by the other teams to get an unfair advantage over Slytherin. Mr Malfoy went on to say that, "Two first-years were allowed on the Gryffindor team the previous year, [this] reeks of the same rule-breaking." The _Prophet _checked this statement by Mr Malfoy and found that, although Mr Potter and Miss Weasley were both first-years, the Hogwarts rules state that a first year student may not _own _a broom._

_In order to see what type of advantage Malfoy thinks he is giving up, the _Prophet _brought in its own Broom experts—Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies and Roderick Plumpton of the Tutshill Tornadoes. "There is no significant differences between [the] Nimbus [2001], the Comet [5000], the Welsh broom [the Banadl] and the Irish broom [the Giolcach]. Obviously, each has a unique steering control system and braking systems, but there is no significant difference between the four."_

_This reporter looks forward to seeing the new Hogwarts house teams in action. The first game is Gryffindor v Slytherin next Saturday at 12:00. It will be broadcast live on your home for Quidditch, Quidditch 94 on your Wireless dial._

Ginny thought that the article was actually well-written for a change. Malfoy's trick got turned against him.

\\/

On Halloween, Harry went to Nearly-Headless Nick's Deathday Party with Ron. He wasn't there long before he decided to leave. When he got to the second floor, near a bathroom occupied by a ghost named Myrtle, he saw writing on the wall, and a cat hanging by its tail.

As always, that was just when the rest of the school came to that corridor. An unpleasant voice filtered over the noise. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware." said Draco Malfoy before putting his own two Knuts in. "You'll be next Mudbloods!"

\\/

Ginny woke up the next morning to find that she was in hospital. _Why was she here? _She thought.

"Oh, good, you're awake" came the voice of the Matron, Madam Pomfrey. "You're very lucky. You had Magical Exhaustion. Your friends brought you here, and I was forced to confine them as well."

Ginny heard a groaning on her side. "What am I doing here?" asked Harry.

"Due to the bond between you, Miss Weasley, and Miss Granger, you were all overcome from Miss Weasley's magical exhaustion. I have already let the headmaster know."

_Speak of the Devil, _Ginny thought as the doors to the Hospital Wing were flung open by none other than the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore.

"You said you had concerns about something, Mr Potter?" he asked.

A/N:

Bet you don't know where I got the idea for the writer of the newspaper article! Let's just say its not from an **English** version of _Harry Potter_

If you choose to review, I would prefer that you do so in English and properly spelled. I could care less about the British/American language differences, I'm talking about careless writing. I just got a review:

"So Harry get hermonie and Ginny and Ron get know one, And if he feel hurt by that he the bad guy"

First of all, I don't care that Hermione is spelled wrong or non-capitalised: That doesn't matter here. Second, "And Ron get know one" should be "And Ron get**s no one."** Also, the reviewer stated, "And if he feel hurt by that he the bad guy." This really should be, "And if he feels hurt by this, then he's the bad guy" or some variation thereof.

To _answer _that reviewer, Ron will eventually get someone. It's just not the main focus of the story. As much as I hate to say this, this story is basically Ginny-centric. If Ginny is not involved in the actions, then she has to hear about it from a third party. Yes, Ron was, as the reviewer put it, a bad guy for a number of chapters in Book 1 (Missed Traffic Light), but now has reconciled with the Trio. He will not be part of the bond, however.


	5. Unspeakables

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 5- Unspeakables

"You said you had concerns about something, Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked. "Is it something having to do with the magical exhaustion that afflicted you three?"

"I don't know" replied Harry. "But Ginny's been acting odd lately, been forgetting what she's done, that type of thing."

"Ginevra, may I?" he said, pointing his wand at her. She nodded and he continued to wave his wand.

"Miss Weasley, does the name Tom Marvolo Riddle ring any bells?" asked the Headmaster. "His magical signature is all over you, which I know shouldn't be possible as someone in this room, well I won't say 'vanquished', but defeated I think is a good word, him back in 1981."

"My diary," said Ginny. "That's the name on my diary! It talks back to me."

"Miss Weasley, would it be at all possible for Miss Granger to retrieve the diary for me?" asked the Headmaster. "If I send you to get it, then it would put up a fuss and not allow you to do so. Already, it has been allowed to possess you."

Ginny nodded and whispered in Hermione's ear the location of the diary. "I cannot go myself," said the Headmaster after Hermione left. "Even though I am the Headmaster, there are still parts of the castle that I cannot access—namely, the girls' Dormitories."

Dumbledore said this in a tone that suggested that this fact amused him. Ginny could tell that Dumbledore was terrified about something. Minutes later, Hermione came back with Riddle's diary.

"Give it to me!" screamed Ginny, affected by the diary's presence. "I _need _it!"

As soon as Hermione handed him the diary, Dumbledore started to analyse it with his wand. "Oh, my" he said before pointing his wand at Harry and using the same wand motions. "Mother of Merlin!" he whispered. "Harry, this is out of my hands. I will be back in a couple of minutes with experts in this type of thing."

He wasn't back in a couple of minutes, as Madam Pomfrey dosed each of the Trio with sleeping potions, which she said would help to recover their magical cores quicker.

When Ginny woke up, there was a strange man in the room. "I see that you are awake," the man said. His voice was almost if someone disguised it, which was probably the case. There was nothing unusual about the man's face from what she could see, either, but that might also be due to a charm. "I am Sparkplug of the Department of Mysteries, an Unspeakable. I am merely analysing what afflicts your friend Mr Potter here."

Sparkplug continued muttering to himself, but it was still loud enough that Ginny could hear it. "Thankfully, there are a couple of rituals that I can do that can remove it."

\\/

A couple of hours later, Ginny woke up again, feeling freer than any time since the end of the summer holidays. She saw the Unspeakable in a chair next to Harry's bed, waiting for him to wake up. Hermione was doing a similar thing at Ginny's bedside. When Hermione saw that Ginny was awake, she yelled, "Ginny!" and kissed her full on the lips. This exclamation was enough to finally wake Harry up, and he recoiled at the sight of the Unspeakable.

"I'm not sure I like you," Harry said to the man. "Something is very wrong about you. I can't even _look_ at you."

"That's OK," said Sparkplug. "There are charms built into the robes that make me completely unremarkable to anyone who sees me, including yourself, Mr Potter."

Harry didn't even bother to ask how the Unspeakable knew his name. Harry knew that everyone this side of the Atlantic Ocean knew who he was, so he didn't even bother to ask.

"There is some Dark Magic residing in your scar, Mr Potter. Quite possibly a remnant of Mr Riddle."

"Who's Mr Riddle?" asked Harry. In response, the Unspeakable conjured the letters TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE out of fire in the air. He waved his wand, and the letters became I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.

"There are two rituals that can cleanse you of this blemish," said the Unspeakable. "The first one will take approximately a week in the Department of Mysteries, but will cause less pain. The other ritual will take about an hour at the DoM, you'll be out for the rest of the weekend, and will cause a hell of a lot of pain—theoretically, worse than the Riddle's Cruciatus Curse. What is your choice?"

"Give me pain" responded Harry. "And let Merlin forgive me for what I have to do."

\\/

That's where Ginny and Hermione found themselves the next Friday, deep in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries. Harry had been led off to a room and prepped for the procedure. There was a window that Ginny and Hermione could watch through, and speakers so that Hermione could hear the ritual. Fortunately for her, there were scream filters on the speakers, so they wouldn't be able to hear Harry as he screamed in pain.

Hermione and Ginny could see Harry thrashing about on the ritual table. After about ten minutes of what looked like very high levels of pain, a black tar-like substance flowed from Harry's scar. One of the Unspeakables immediately collected it and took it to another room. A yellow glow surrounded Harry and he fell unconscious. The Unspeakables transported him and the girls back to Hogwarts (somehow they managed to make a Portkey directly to the Hospital Wing), where Ginny and Hermione stood their vigil at Harry's bedside. It was quite obvious that his condition was not good.

On the first day, Ginny took the early shift and Hermione took the late shift. The Hogwarts rumour-mill had apparently gotten wind of the fact that their Saviour was in the hospital wing, so Ron showed up on Sunday.

"Hey, mate," Ron said. "They postponed the Quidditch match for you. Hufflepuff got slaughtered 500-150 instead. Diggory got the Snitch to end the slaughter against Hufflepuff."

"Ron," asked a voice. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Harry, language!" the two girls shouted at the voice. "Harry?" they asked in surprise. "You're awake?"

\\/

Near mid-November, Gryffindor played their first Quidditch game of the season. Ginny, as always, was sitting up in the stands with Hermione and Ron. Gryffindor was playing in Scarlet and Gold, Slytherin in Green and Silver. The Twins' friend Lee Jordan was commentating as usual.

"Please welcome to the Field, Flying Comet 9000s, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team! In Goal, your Captain, Oliver Wood! On Beaters, the Human Bludgers themselves, Fred and George Weasley! Chasers Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet! And at Seeker, Harry Potter!"

Lee said the names so that he drew out their last names. He then read the names of the Slytherin players in a less drawn-out way. "And the opposition: Sponsored by Lucius Malfoy and Nimbus Broom Company and Flying 2001s, Slytherin. In Goal, Miles Bletchley. At Beater, Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole. Chasers Graham Montague and Chris Warrington and Captain Marcus Flint. And at Seeker, Draco Malfoy!"

The game, as always, was brutal. The Slytherin players were interfering with Gryffindor, and Lee was letting the crowd know his feelings about that. Then, something odd happened. One of the Bludgers kept coming after Harry. He was using every available move to avoid the Bludger. Slytherin managed to score five more times, as the other Bludger hit one of the Gryffindor chasers.

"Training for the ballet, Potter?" asked Malfoy.

Then Harry saw the Snitch. It was hovering about ten feet off the ground. Harry pulled the Comet into a dive and caught the Snitch. Unfortunately, he was paying too much attention to where the Snitch was and not enough attention on where the Bludger was. It hit him in the arm, breaking it. Gilderoy Lockhart came running over.

"No need to worry, I can fix it!" he said.

"No! I'd rather go to Madam Pomfrey!" Harry responded.

"Nonsense," said Lockhart as he performed a charm on Harry's arm.

\\/

Ginny was so worried about Harry that night. She knew what Skele-Gro tasted like, having broken her arm when she was six.

When Harry finally got out of the Hospital Wing, he told Ginny about the elf that visited him again. Fortunately, Harry was able to worm some information about the culprit before telling the elf that the Diary had been taken care of. The elf said that his master had given Ginny the diary.

\\/

"Lockhart really is a fraud, isn't he," said Hermione.

"Yep," said Ginny. "According to some of his books, he's supposed to be in two places at once."

A/N:

Please read and review. Should there be more Horcruxes in this story, or should I figure out some other type of Dark Magicks for the Dark Lord to use to be Reborn?


	6. The Duelling Club

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 6

"_Lockhart really is a fraud, isn't he," said Hermione._

"_Yep," said Ginny. "According to some of his books, he's supposed to be in two places at once."_

This got the Trio to thinking—well, actually, it was the whole Quartet. _How could they convince the Headmaster that Lockhart was a fraud? _Ginny thought.

"We need to do something," said Harry. "The man's a menace."

"Too bad we don't still have the diary," said Ginny in a joking tone. "Lockhart might actually be competent after meeting old Tom."

"We simply need to make him look completely incompetent," added Hermione.

"How in Merlin's name are we going to do that?" asked Ron.

\\/

A couple of days later, a notice went up on the Gryffindor message boards. A duelling club would be starting that Thursday, after classes at 19:00.

"What do we need a duelling club for?" asked Ron.

Ginny and Hermione, on the other hand, were nearly jumping for joy.

"Why are you all happy?" asked Harry.

"Did you see the sign?" asked Hermione. "Or Rather, who's sponsoring it?" asked Ginny.

"Who?"

"Flitwick, Snape, and Lockhart." said the girls gleefully.

"Oh, I'd pay real money to see Lockhart get his ass kicked," said Ginny to the twin reactions of "Ginny, language!" from Harry and Hermione.

"You know," started Harry with a grin on his face. "That's not a bad idea."

\\/

"Place your bets here!" called Harry. "Excellent odds on Flitwick! Decent odds on Snape!"

\\/

"Buy your tickets here for the match of the Century: Flitwick v Snape!" called the Twins, having took Harry's example.

\\/

On the night of the Duelling Club meeting, the Trio went down to the Defence Classroom, which had been magically expanded with all of the desks vanished. Lockhart was standing at the front of the room, along with Snape and Flitwick. Snape looked dour, and Flitwick looked excited.

"I heard he was Duelling Champion back from 1945-1950" said Hermione.

"Can you all hear me?" asked the annoying voice of the Defence Against the Dark Arts 'Professor' Gilderoy Lockhart. "Can you all see me? We are hear to teach you youngsters some of the basics of Duelling. For details of my previous duels, see my collected works."

"To begin tonight," said Flitwick in his squeaky voice. "We will have a demonstration between two uh...'experienced' duellers, myself and Mr Lockhart, after which, the winner will duel with Professor Snape."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny could see Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, Sinestra, and Sprout watching. She hoped that Lockhart did something completely stupid. Ginny was right. The Flitwick v Lockhart duel was over in mere moments. Despite being over 80 years old, Flitwick was still a fast dueller, and managed to disarm Lockhart in five seconds flat. The duel with Snape was much better from Ginny's point of view.

Snape and Flitwick were throwing curses at each other—they were using curses with very few side effects, as this was just a class, and they were deflecting almost as many curses. Each of the duellers was moving around, avoiding curses right and left. Every so often, one of them would let a curse get through, but it took ten minutes before Flitwick managed to hit Snape with a Stunner at a place which was eye level for the half-Goblin, but caused every male in the audience to wince in imagined pain as Snape crumpled to the floor.

After a minute, Snape got up and shook Flitwick's hand, and immediately left to see Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

\\/

The next Quidditch game of the season was approaching: Gryffindor v Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff, Ginny noticed, had Cedric Diggory as their Seeker, a Fifth-year. According to rumours, he would be Hufflepuff Captain next year. In the lead-up to the match, Wood was trying to book every possible time. McGonagall finally had to tell him to lay off, and that she was now instituting a schedule for all the teams, so that theoretically, no team would have an advantage in terms of practising time, now that their brooms were all theoretically equal.

If Gryffindor won the game, they'd have a clear lead for the Championship. If they lost, then they could have a smaller lead or fall out of the Championship race.

It was a clear day for the match. Ginny was in the stands with Ron and Hermione. All three of them had their wands, just in case they needed to Stun Lockhart. The Gryffindors (playing in Red) and the Hufflepuffs (playing in Canary Yellow) flew off to a quick start. Soon, the game was tied at 60 apiece. _Diggory is actually a decent Seeker,_ thought Ginny. _Harry's not falling for his tricks, though._ It was a hard-fought match, but noticeably cleaner than the match with Slytherin. Ginny saw the Snitch by one of the goal-posts when the score was 100-120 to Hufflepuff. Half a second later, Ginny realised that Harry saw the Snitch as well, as he raced towards it and caught it half a second before Diggory. The two Seekers shook hands, and left for their respective dressing rooms.

When Christmas came around, unfortunately, Lockhart was still 'teaching' his classes, and the Trio were trying to find ways to get him kicked out. Unfortunately, most of their ideas were either too dangerous, too expensive, too illegal, or all three. There was one good idea, but they had no idea how to execute it.

The idea was to find a Boggart, like the one they faced the year before, and put it into Lockhart's Quarters. The problem was that it would be more effective with multiple Boggarts, and second, they had no idea where to find one.

On Christmas, Ginny once again found a mountain of presents on her bed. She got candy from Harry and Ron, a book from Hermione (about Electricity and how Muggles use it), a jumper and fudge from her mum and dad and various pranking items from the Twins. She put on her jumper and went downstairs for a small breakfast.

After she was done with breakfast, she and the twins went onto the grounds where they had a massive snowball fight, which ended just in time to get dried off for the Christmas feast in the early afternoon. All afternoon, Malfoy was making snide remarks about the Weasleys' jumpers; the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry just ignored him.

The morning after Christmas, Malfoy was shoving a newspaper in her face at breakfast, and Ginny wasn't happy. It was an article about her father.

_**Inquiry at the Ministry of Magic**_

_Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was fined Fifty Galleons today for possession of a bewitched Muggle Artefact and for bewitching said Artefact (a Muggle automobile, a type of Horseless Carriage that the Muggles use to get places). Readers may remember back in September when the story broke of a flying Ford Anglia mystifying Muggles. We at the _Prophet_ have now learnt that the vehicle in question was driven by Mr Weasley's youngest son, Richard._

_Lucius Malfoy, a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, where the vehicle crashed, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion, called for Weasley's resignation. "Clearly, this man is flaunting the very laws he helped to create. The ridiculous Muggle protection act should be scrapped immediately."_

_Weasley had this to say. "I don't care what Malfoy thinks. He is the arch-nemesis of my family for 15 generations. I believe that the Muggles and Muggle-borns are the future of our race. The War with [name omitted] and the previous war with Grindelwald depleted our purebloods. A recent study showed that power among purebloods is at an all time low."_

_For the connexions between the authors of aforementioned study and subversive Goblin groups, turn to page 9._

"They couldn't even get your brother's name right!" said Malfoy, laughing. "Richard Weasley! Ha!"

Fortunately for him, he walked away before Ginny could Curse him.

\\/

The first day back from the Christmas holidays, the Gryffindors were once again in DADA when Lockhart suddenly shouted, "_Legilimens!" _at Harry, and Harry started to convulse in pain.

A/N: I'm really having a hard time fitting Ron into the series, as his place is either irrelevant to the story (which happened a lot in MTL) or his place is taken by someone else (usually Ginny). I will try not to exclude him too much.

I picture Flitwick duelling like Yoda fought in Star Wars: Episode II (when he was jumping all over the place), though I suppose that view is not exactly politically correct

Remember jumper=American/Canadian Sweater


	7. The Fall

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 7—The Fall

_The first day back from the Christmas holidays, the Gryffindors were once again in DADA when Lockhart suddenly shouted, "_Legilimens_!" at Harry, and Harry started to convulse in pain._

"Hermione, you get the Headmaster, I'll go get Madam Pomfrey!" shouted Ginny as the both ran out of the room. Ron ran out of the room right after to get Professor McGonagall.

**RON POV:**

_Where would McGonagall be at this hour? _He thought to himself. _I'll check the classroom, her office, and the staffroom._

McGonagall's office was the closest of the three, so he took off at his quickest pace. In less than a minute, he was banging on the door.

"Yes, who is it?" said McGonagall.

"This is Ronald Weasley," he replied. "Lockhart has done something to attack Harry."

Ron could hear his professor running about her room. She emerged a second later. "Where are they?" she asked.

"In the Defence classroom," responded Ron. "We were in the middle of class, and Lockhart shouted something like "_Legilimens_" at Harry and Harry seemed to be in pain. My sister is getting Madam Pomfrey, and Hermione is getting the Headmaster."

They arrived back at the classroom at the same moment that a nurse and a headmaster, followed by two students came running up to the door.

**Hermione POV:**

_I wish I were in slightly better shape, _thought Hermione as she rushed up the stairs towards where she thought Dumbledore's office was. _Or I wish that I'd have learned that Talking-Patronus thing that I've read about. Then I wouldn't _be _running._

She got to the Headmaster's Office within a couple of minutes. She got to the Gargoyle. "Sherbet Lemon" she told the gargoyle. Their were rumours going around the school that 'Sherbet Lemons' (whatever those were) were the Headmaster's favourite candy, and she knew from Ginny and Harry that the Headmaster used candy names as his passwords.

The gargoyle moved aside, and she ran up the stairs. She was about to knock on the door when she heard, "Come in, Miss Granger," from inside the office. The door swung open and she walked in.

"Sir, there is a problem with Professor Lockhart in the defence classroom," she said, speaking very quickly and almost yelling.

"Holy Mother of Merlin," Dumbledore whispered. "What has the fool done now?" he said aloud, just barely enough for Hermione to hear.

**Normal POV:**

Ginny was also running up the stairs, except she was headed towards the Hospital Wing. "Madam Pomfrey!" she yelled as she burst through the doors.

"Yes, what is it, child?" the nurse asked, waving her wand over Ginny. "Aside from elevated Heart rate, I'd say that you have no injuries at all."

"It's Harry, ma'am. Professor Lockhart attacked him in the defence classroom."

"Merlin's beard!" the healer exclaimed. "That man is stupider than I thought."

The nurse got her medical bag, and then a quill. "One of the benefits of being me," she said, pointing her wand at the quill and saying, "Portus", "is that I can make a Portkey for anywhere in the school. Grab ahold."

Ginny grabbed the quill and felt the usual spinning sensation of a Portkey. It put them down a corridor next to the Defence Classroom. She and the Nurse quickly ran to the Defence Classroom right as the others were getting back.

"Good thinking, Ronald," said Ginny.

They could hear Harry screaming now. All of the students had gone to the sides of the classroom, as if to figure out a way to attack one of the supposed most prominent Defence Against the Dark Arts experts in the world.

The professors came running through the door, just as they heard Lockhart start another curse. "Obliv—ah!"

The "ah" was right as he saw two Stunners hitting his chest, causing him to collapse. He had been so focused on trying to Memory Charm Harry and the others in the classroom that he forgot to watch the door. Pomfrey ran over to Harry.

"Aside from some elevated mental function, I'd say that physically, he's OK," the healer diagnosed. "As always, though, I'd like to keep him for observation overnight." She then moved over to Lockhart, who was laying stunned at the front of his classroom.

"Unfortunately, I'd say the same thing about Mr Lockhart there," she said. "He's in pretty good physical shape, so two Stunners shouldn't hurt him too much."

"Minerva," growled Dumbledore. Ginny had never seen the Headmaster this angry in her entire life. She didn't even think that her dad seemed that angry after the "Unbreakable Charm incident" with Ron and the Twins. "Call the Aurors. Get the DMLE here immediately."

The Deputy ran to the Floo and shouted, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement!"

A voice on the other side of the connection stated, "Please state the nature of the Emergency."

Fifteen minutes later, a stream of Aurors were emerging from the Fireplace, including the Director, Amelia Bones. _According to Dad, _Ginny thought. _Madam Bones is tough, but fair. She'll get this bastard for hurting Harry, _to which a voice in her head said, _Ginny, Language!_

"OK, this seems to be a clean case," said Bones talking to one of the other officers, who was taking notes on legal parchment. "At approximately 1045 local time, the Suspect allegedly attacked Mr Potter with the Mind-reading charm, and approximately five minutes later was attempting the Memory Charm on aforementioned student, at which point, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, with the assistance of Madam Pomfrey took the Suspect into custody. At approximately 1055 local time, the Aurors received an Emergency Call from Hogwarts with the same explanation. Aurors arrived to find the Suspect laying at the front of his classroom Stunned and the victim receiving Medical Attention. End Disposition."

The recording officer stopped writing and Bones said, "Take him to a holding cell, and put on the new Magic-Supressing cuffs. We don't want this one getting away."

Another officer put the cuffs on the Professor and shoved him into the fireplace. The two disappeared back to the Ministry building.

"I'm going to need testimony from as many of these students as possible at the trial," Bones said. "Which should begin in around five days."

The next morning, Ginny went to breakfast to find the _Daily Prophet _already there. On the front page, the Headline read, _**Hogwarts Professor attacks The-Boy-Who-Lived!**_

The article went on to read:

_In a stunning chain of events, the _Daily Prophet _has learned that Gilderoy Lockhart, 28, Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, attacked Mr Harry Potter, 12 of Surrey, yesterday in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom at aforementioned school._

_Aurors were called and the Suspect subdued. According to sources, Mr Potter suffered significant mental trauma from the ordeal but otherwise suffered no lasting injuries (for a discussion about the possible medical issues, see page 10, for a more in-depth detail of Mr Potter, see page 12)._

"_This man was clearly a fraud," said one student in Slytherin at the school. "The man taught only about himself, and not all that much about Defence."_

"_I don't know how I am going to pass my OWLs," said another student, incidentally from Ravenclaw, who spoke on the condition of anonymity._

_The Prophet has also discovered that Mr Potter was not the first person that Mr Lockhart has attacked. No, the _Prophet _can exclusively reveal that Lockhart supposedly confessed to doing this multiple times so that he could write his books._

"_We cannot comment on ongoing investigations," said one Auror representative. "Mr Lockhart has not retained a Barrister as of yet, and will have a trial Thursday."_

_According to sources from the Ministry, Mr Lockhart will be stripped of his Order of Merlin, Third Class, and the Dark Arts Defence League has revoked his membership. "If the man is convicted," said Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, "I would assume that the ministry will fine the man fairly heavily—his income from his 'books' is over 10000 Galleons per month, so the Ministry will probably fine the man close to a million galleons. This will allow the Ministry to continue to lead Our world in peace and prosperity."_

_A parent of a Hogwarts student, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion, said that Dumbledore should be investigated for his poor hiring skills. "It is obvious that Professor Dumbledore just doesn't have the ability to discern who will be a good teacher or not. According to my son, last year's Defence teacher was Possessed by an evil creature and attempted to steal an important artefact. Also, Professor Binns is still teaching over a hundred years after his death. Professor Snape on the other hand, is a fine teacher, and the other teachers should follow his example."_

_The _Prophet _will certainly investigate rumours of Dumbledore's senility. For a look at Dumbledore's links to Muggle-born terrorist groups, see page 23. For a discussion, see page 25. For a look at the charges against Lockhart, see page 29. For previous charges (which were proven to be false) against Messrs Malfoy and Snape, see page 31._

"Ha!" said Draco Malfoy from the Slytherin table. "Everyone knows that my father was under the Imperious Curse and that's why he was let off of the charges! This Kimcorn must be a Mudblood."

"Mr Malfoy," called McGonagall. "Fifty points from Slytherin and a detention for bad language."

Ginny knew that Harry did not like the 'M'-word (any respectable Magical ought to, thought Ginny), and she could feel his magic starting to flair up, which would have been bad news for both Malfoy and Harry.

When they got to Potions, Snape immediately said, "Sixty points each from Gryffindor for being early, Potter, Weasley, Weasley, and Granger."

A/N: I'm really having a hard time fitting Ron into the series, as his place is either irrelevant to the story (which happened a lot in MTL) or his place is taken by someone else (usually Ginny). I will try not to exclude him too much.

I'm really surprised that no one has commented about the kiss in the hospital wing a couple of chapters ago. To refresh your memories, it was between Ginny and Hermione. Mind you, it was just a brief one sentence thing, but I expected reaction.


	8. The Trial

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 8

The school was all abuzz about the news of Lockhart getting arrested. The other rumours were that, until the trial at least, Amelia Bones would send an Auror over to teach. The Auror's name, said the rumours, was Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had recently been injured on the job, and had been given desk duties.

The rumours, for once, were true. The Auror was a tall black man with a deep voice. Ginny found that when he talked, his voice had an almost reassuring tone. He was bald and broad-shouldered.

For the first time since she started Hogwarts, she had a competent Defence teacher. Quirrell had been good with theory, except for the fact he was a stutterer, and Lockhart hadn't really been good at anything at all.

"I have but a couple of weeks to whip you lot into shape," the Auror said. "That's when my disability is up, and I will return to active duty. I don't have quite as much to do with you, as you aren't in your OWL or NEWT years."

The professor took out a stack of books from a crate under the desk. "I am assuming that Mr Lockhart will not be returning," he said in his deep voice. "Therefore, at great cost to the ministry, you have new textbooks for this class."

He waved his wand, and a copy of the book was distributed to each of the students. The book was called _Basic Defensive Theory or How not to get Yourself Killed, _by Auror Alastor Moody (ret.). Ginny had heard the name 'Moody' before, generally referring to someone called "Mad-eye". When she looked at the author picture on the last page, which Moody seemed very reluctant to allow, Ginny knew this was the same Moody. According to her Dad, Moody was one of the best Aurors in all of Britain. Unfortunately, in the last decade and a half, he had become very paranoid, so it was very much a good thing that Moody himself wasn't teaching the class.

\\/

On Thursday, the Ministry provided a Mass Portkey for the Gryffindor Second Year Defence class for the trial of Gilderoy Lockhart.

When they arrived at the ministry, they had their wands checked at the security desk, and then were escorted down to Courtroom 10, where the trial was being held. The witnesses would be in rooms on the side of the courtroom, so that they could hear the proceedings, but not be heard.

Dumbledore, Fudge, and Bones walked to their places at the Wizengamot.

"We are here today to hear accusations against Mr Gilderoy Lockhart, no known mailing address. Interrogators for the Prosecution, Mr Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock; Mr Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic of Great Britain and all her Territories; and Madam Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Court scribe is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Dolores Umbridge" said Dumbledore. "Mr Lockhart is the defence. Mr Lockhart, have you retained a Barrister?"

"I will be acting in my own defence," said Lockhart. "For I am Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Arts Defence League, and Five time winner of _Witch Weekly's _Most Charming Smile Award."

_The Git's full of himself, _thought Ginny. She could see that Harry and Hermione certainly agreed with her.

"I wish to advise you against this action, Mr Lockhart," said the Minister for Magic. "Do you understand the consequences of acting as your own legal counsel?"

"Of course I do," said Lockhart. "After all, I'm"

Lockhart was cut off by Dumbledore. "You have been charged with Assault, Mind Rape, Attempted Obliviation, Forgery, use of various illegal hexes and curses, Aggravated Assault, 10 counts of Mind-Rape for your previous victims, 10 counts of Assault once again for your previous victims and Five counts of Unauthorised Obliviation. How does the Defendant plead?"

"Not guilty for I was under the Imperious Curse," said the Defendant.

"Very well, under Imperious Curse Act 1991, which was passed last year by a two-thirds quorum of the Wizengamot, you must now be administered Veritiserum."

From his spot in the Wizengamot, Malfoy and his allies looked furious, whilst Dumbledore and his allies looked victorious. Chief Warlock Dumbledore called for the Chief Potioneer of the Wizengamot, who then administered three drops of the truth drug to Lockhart.

"What is your name and occupation?" asked Dumbledore to the newly-drugged Lockhart.

"I am Gilderoy Lockhart, I am an Order of Merlin recipient, an honorary member of the Dark Arts Defence League, and Five-time winner of _Witch Weekly's _Most Charming Smile Award, Currently, I work as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts."

"Did you do any of the things that you claim to have done in your books?"

"Of course not. No one would have bought any of my books if they thought I hadn't done those things. No one wants to read about an old Armenian Warlock, even if he did banish that werewolf, and the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. If there is one thing I pride myself in, its memory charms. I have used the combined memories of 150 different witches, wizards, and various half-human creatures like werewolves (They got rid of some vampires), and vampires (the opposite)."

"Chief Warlock," said Madam Bones. "I'd like to add 150 counts of Improper Use of a Memory Charm."

"Approved" said Dumbledore. "Now what happened on 3rd January 1993?"

Still under the truth drug Veritiserum, Lockhart was forced to answer. "Potter had information that I needed. I was going to use his memories so that I could invent a Dark Lord that I could have claimed to beaten. However, he wasn't helping out, so I was forced to get his memories by use of a Higher powered curse—the Legilimens Curse. There was plenty of information there, but nothing on how he defeated You-Know-Who. That took about five minutes of him yelping like I was smashing his hand under a hammer. I was preparing to Obliviate him when there was an unprovoked attack on my person by the person now sitting in the Chief Warlock's Chair.

"They then took me into custody, where I confessed what I have done. They then stunned me once again and stripped my clothes off and forced me to wear these robes that don't even cost 5 sickles."

"Prosecutor, would you like to question witnesses?" Dumbledore asked Bones.

"Not at this time, no," she replied.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot, please place your wands in the air for a guilty verdict."

Just by a rough guess, Ginny thought that over three-quarters of the Wizengamot put their wands up with sparks flying out of them. Another ten or so merely put their wands in the air.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot, please place your wands in the air for a non-guilty verdict."

Most of the remaining witches and wizards put their wands up.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot, please place your wands in the air for the verdict of Not Proven."

The others put their wands up. Umbridge, quite unhappily, read the votes. "Guilty 120 votes, Not Guilty 60 votes, Not Proven 15 votes, 5 abstentions."

"Thank you, Scribe," said Dumbledore, further angering Umbridge. "Counsel will please stand. The Defendant has been found guilty of Assault and Assault on Mr Harry James Potter, with a sentence of 10 years in Azkaban and a 50000 Galleon Fine. The Defendant has been found guilty of 150 counts of Improper Use of a Memory Charm for a sentence of 150 years in Azkaban and a 150 thousand Galleon fine. Defendant has been found guilty of Mind-Rape and Mind-Rape of a minor for a sentence of 50 years in Azkaban without the possibility of Parole and a 10000 Galleon Fine. The defendant is found guilty of five counts of forgery, for a sentence of 20 years in Azkaban and 50% of the proceeds from the Forged Books. You will serve these sentences consecutively, starting with the Mind-Rape sentence, for a total of 230 years in Azkaban, 50 without the possibility of pardon or parole, and a fine of 210 Thousand Galleons and 50% of the proceeds from your books. May Merlin have mercy on your soul. Aurors, take him away!"

Ginny was thankful that she didn't have to testify. She was unsure of herself in front of all these people. The students were portkeyed back to Hogwarts, where the nurse attempted to dose them all with calming draughts.

There were two major headlines in the newspaper the next morning: _**Battle in Courtroom, **_and_**Lockhart found Guilty—faces Life in Prison**_.

_Wow! _Ginny thought. _Something must have happened right after we left. _Just then, she saw her brothers with a piece of parchment in their hands, so she went over. They tried to hide the parchment, but Ginny was quicker.

"That's a map of Hogwarts," she exclaimed only to have her brothers put their hands over her mouth as they led her away to a more private area. "That's a map of Hogwarts, isn't it?"

"Shows everybody, everywhere," the twins said in stereo.

"If it's a live map, then why is there a dot parked "Peter Pettigrew" in the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitories, specifically, the Second Years' Dormitory?"

A/N: I'm really having a hard time fitting Ron into the series, as his place is either irrelevant to the story (which happened a lot in MTL) or his place is taken by someone else (usually Ginny). I will try not to exclude him too much.

The trial is not supposed to accurately depict a British Trial. As I am not British, I have no clue how a trial works

Summery: Basically, the Students get Shack as a Defence Teacher, Moody wrote the textbook, and Gilderoy is tried for his crimes against Harry (mind-rape, assault, aggravated assault, etc) and his other victims


	9. Animaguses

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 9

"_That's a map of Hogwarts," Ginny exclaimed only to have her brothers put their hands over her mouth as they led her away to a more private area. "That's a map of Hogwarts, isn't it?"_

"_Shows everybody, everywhere," the twins said in stereo._

"_If it's a live map, then why is there a dot parked "Peter Pettigrew" in the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitories, specifically, the Second Years' Dormitory?"_

"Wait!" said one of the twins. "Isn't that Ron's bed?"

"How the hell would you know that?" asked Ginny.

"Because that's the bed Ron is sitting on." said the twins.

"Let's see what happens over a couple of days," suggested Ginny. "Then, we go to Dumbledore."

\\/

At supper that evening, Professor McGonagall announced that, due to the attack at the ministry, Dumbledore was hurt and therefore in Hospital. Therefore, she would be the acting headmistress until such a time as Dumbledore was able to return.

"It must be serious, if they are invoking the Hogwarts Charter," commented the twins.

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.

"According to _Hogwarts, A History,_" chimed in Hermione, "If the Headmaster was only very temporarily incapacitated, then they wouldn't even bother to announce it. Now that they've actually announced it, Real Power is given to McGonagall to truly act as Headmistress. The Founders made sure that it was in the wards, so that there could be a transition state between Headmasters."

"In between headmasters?" asked Harry.

"When one headmaster retires, the deputy is immediately promoted to Headmaster, until the next Headmaster can be elected or the former deputy confirmed," replied Hermione.

\\/

Defence classes were a lot better now that they had Professor Shacklebolt. Sometimes, they had to strain to hear his voice, since it was so low, but Ginny was actually learning useful spells in the class, such as the Disarming Charm.

Snape was just as bad as ever. One day, they were preparing Sleeping Draughts.

"Miss Weasley," Snape said. "20 points from Gryffindor for breathing too loud."

He walked around the cauldrons, standing behind Neville the longest, which caused the boy to put an ingredient in early. "Longbottom," he said, causing Neville to jump out of his seat. "25 points from Gryffindor for your carelessness. _Evansco" _as he said this, the potion disappeared from the cauldron. "Potter, 20 points from Gryffindor for not stopping Longbottom."

The point reductions continued from there.

Even though Malfoy's father had already left the Ministry when the attack occurred, Malfoy Junior was even more smug than usual.

"Finally, Dumbledore is out of this school. That Muggle-lover is one of the worst things ever to happen to this school." Malfoy said one Potions class. "Professor," he continued to Snape, "You should apply for Headmaster. I think that you'd be a wonderful Headmaster."

"Professor McGonagall is merely the temporary Headmistress. I am sure that the Headmaster will be back on his feet soon," said Snape. Sneering, he continued, "Draco, get back to your potion. Also, it is...unwise in the current climate to voice such an opinion of the Headmaster."

There were no updates from the _Prophet _or Acting Headmistress McGonagall about Dumbledore's condition; however, 13 Death Eaters had been tried for Attempted Murder and Attempted Assassination of a Public Official and sentenced to life in Azkaban without the possibility of Parole or pardon. The list of convicted Death Eaters, Ginny found to be a who's who of the parents of many of the Slytherins—Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Greengrass, Higgs and Boson were among the convicted.

The lack of information about the Headmaster worried Ginny. Quickly, a week of classes had gone by. The Professors were all getting ready for the End-of-Term exams, and were forcing huge amounts of homework on their students.

Ginny and the Twins decided to go see Professor McGonagall about the name on the map. They went down to her office.

"Come in," she said when they knocked. "What can I do for you, Messrs Weasley and Miss Weasley? I hope that it is something important, as I am rather busy trying to teach _and_ be Headmistress."

"Oh, it is, Headmistress, ma'am," said the twins. "We have a map of Hogwarts that we found, and it is showing a person that is known to be dead."

"May I see this map?" asked McGonagall.

The twins took out the map. "We solemnly swear that we are up to no good." they said as they tapped the blank piece of parchment.

Ginny could see ink writing on the page.

"_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_are proud to present_

_THE MARAUDER'S MAP"_

"Look at the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, ma'am," said a twin.

"More specifically, the second years," said the other.

"But that's impossible!" exclaimed McGonagall. "What type of pet does Ronald have, boys?"

"He has a rat," said the twins (Ginny couldn't tell who said it).

"When exactly did you get this rat?" asked McGonagall.

"About 11 years ago, right after the Potter murders," said a twin, with comprehension dawning on his face.

"Percy had him for quite a while" said the other.

McGonagall turned to her Fireplace and tossed some Floo powder in. "Flitwick!"

"Yes, Headmistress?" squeaked Flitwick.

"I need you to come with me to the Gryffindor dormitories." she responded. "There is a situation with the possibility of us needing your fighting skills."

"What's gone wrong?"

"There is a rat Animagus in the Dormitories, one that is unregistered, and most certainly will not be a friendly when we go to catch him."

McGonagall closed the connection, and the group headed up to the Gryffindor Common Room. When McGonagall walked in, the whole house got quiet. "Mr Weasley, please escort Professor Flitwick and I up to your dormitory."

Ginny could tell that her brother was nervous and afraid he'd done something wrong, but he led the professors up to his room and to his bed.

McGonagall called him over and whispered, "Where do you keep your rat?"

Ron pointed at an area on the sheets. McGonagall magicked the sheets away and cast the Animagus Detection Charm.

"I am reading one Animagus," she whispered to Flitwick. She saw the rat (who had one toe missing) and cast the Animagus Reversal Charm. Ron shrieked as a man materialised on the bed where Scabbers had been. McGonagall stunned the man, and pulled back his sleeves. The man was a Death Eater.

"Thank you for your help, Mr Weasley," said McGonagall. "Unfortunately, your family will have to undergo some sort of investigation, as your rat is a Death Eater."

McGonagall and Flitwick took the body of the man down to her quarters, from which she called the DMLE. "Please state the nature of your emergency." asked the voice at the other end of the line.

"We'd like DMLE to retrieve a prisoner," McGonagall said. Minutes later, Amelia Bones stepped through the fireplace. "But that's not possible!" she exclaimed on seeing Pettigrew. "Sirius Black killed him back in 1981!"

_**Peter Pettigrew no Hero **_shouted the Headlines the next morning, with the subtitle _Pettigrew a pervert! Lives as rat for 11 years._

_Peter Pettigrew, Order of Merlin, Third Class, is not as deceased as he led us to believe. Using a Top-Secret device, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, the Heads of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, found Mr Peter Pettigrew, 32, in the Gryffindor boy's dormitories._

"_Mr Pettigrew was, unbeknownst to us, an unregistered Animagus with the form of a rat," was the statement from the school. "The safety of all the students is Paramount to us. As soon as we realised that there was a security breach, we immediately apprehended the Suspect and turned him over to the DMLE."_

_Pettigrew was thought to be dead after Sirius Black destroyed a street after he betrayed the Potters. Twelve Muggles and Pettigrew were thought to be killed._

_The discovery of Pettigrew calls that scenario into question. The _Daily Prophet _can exclusively reveal that no record of a trial for Mr Black can be found. According to what few records the Auror Department has, Dumbledore testified that, to the best of his knowledge, Black was the Secret-Keeper for the Potters. This involves a very difficult piece of magic and involves giving one person a secret that only the Secret-Keeper can reveal to another person._

Later on that evening, there was a Special Edition of the _Daily Prophet _as a trial for Pettigrew (on charges of being an unregistered Animagus and being a Death Eater, at first) had already taken place. Pettigrew had stupidly claimed the Imperious Curse for the bit about being a Death Eater, and peer pressure for the Animagus. Grinning broadly, Temporary Chief-Witch of the Wizengamot Augusta Longbottom had called for the Potions Master, who had forced Pettigrew to drink the Veritiserum.

Eventually, Pettigrew was charged with Two Counts of Being an Accessory to Murder, One Count of Being an Accessory to Attempted Murder, False Accusations and Attempted Murder and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in Azkaban.

The newspaper went on to say that Sirius Black had been freed and immediately rearrested for being an Unregistered Animagus, where he was sentenced to one year imprisonment (time served). He was then released to St Mungos to recover from extended exposure to Dementors, and to the horror of Minister Fudge, Black was given a very large amount of money for his False Imprisonment of 10 years. Hidden in the last paragraph of the article was a note that Ginny was very interested in: Sirius Black was Harry Potter's godfather, and therefore, his legal guardian.

A/N: One reviewer has suggested that Ron fall out of friendship with Harry, et. al, but I have my doubts that would work. Really, I don't have things planned very far in advance, which is why the updates are so sporadic

There is a minor scientific reference in the list of convicted Death Eaters. If I were anybody else, I'd offer ten points, or a cookie, but I have no clue how to write one in Java:)

I have also taken down the epilogue to _A Missed Traffic Light, _as it is no longer is relevant/has events/timings that are being moved up significantly.


	10. The End of a Year

The Bonds of Friendship, Book 2

The Chamber and the Heir

Chapter 9

_Hidden in the last paragraph of the article about Black's release was a note that Ginny was very interested in: Sirius Black was Harry Potter's godfather, and therefore, his legal guardian._

Before Easter, McGonagall handed out the books with the descriptions of the electives, which were available to Third years and above. Ginny and Harry had to talk Hermione out of trying to take all of the classes.

"I've heard that Divinations rubbish anyway" said Harry, fortunately out of earshot of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"And you're a Muggle-born anyway, so why would you need Muggle Studies?" asked Ginny.

"I wanted to see the Wizarding view of Muggles," replied Hermione.

"Don't bother," said Ginny. "To most wizards in charge, Muggles are scum. Also, I heard from Percy that you don't even need to take the class to sit the exam. Any Muggle-raised could sit the exam without trouble."

In the end, the Trio decided to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, as they 'looked interesting.'

\\/

A couple of days after Easter, Headmistress McGonagall called the Trio to her office. They came in, and she offered them a biscuit. They declined, but like the old lady she was, she said, "Don't be silly," and thrust the tin into their faces. They each took one as they waited for her to explain why she called them there.

"I'm sure that you've read the headlines?" she asked. The Trio all nodded. "Then you must know that a Mr Sirius Black has been released from Azkaban."

"Yes, a couple of weeks ago," said Ginny.

"Have you been reading the entire articles?" inquired McGonagall.

"Yes" said Ginny and Hermione. "No" said Harry.

"When you were born, Mr Potter," started McGonagall, taking a biscuit herself. "Mr Sirius Black was named your godfather by his best friends, your mum and dad. In the wizarding world, as we don't have much or any religion like the Muggles do, a Godfather is the guardian of a child should the parents find themselves in a position where they cannot take care of the child, like with Mr Longbottom and you, Mr Potter."

"Are Neville's parents dead?" asked Harry.

"No," said McGonagall almost regretfully. "Some would say that it would be more merciful to them and to their family if they _were _dead. A number of Death Eaters, that is to say, followers of You-Know-Who, tortured the Longbottoms into insanity."

"Who are Neville's godparents?" asked Ginny.

"Unfortunately, his godparents were killed a week before Mr Potter's _other _godparents were tortured into insanity," replied the Headmistress. "Neville's mum was your Godmother, and Lily was Neville's. Now, we have a situation about your Housing at the end of the Term."

"What issue? Does Sirius Black have a house?" asked Harry.

"The Headmaster, who will be back soon, wishes for you to go to the Dursley's for your own protection," said the professor.

"My own...My own protection?" Ginny could tell that Harry was rearing up for a rather loud shout. "Headmistress, with all due respect," Harry was nearly shouting now. "I have never, nor will I ever, consider Number 4, Privet Drive, my home."

McGonagall was moving her hands in a placating manner. "I told the headmaster not to put you there" she said over Harry's continued rant. "THE WORST SORT OF MUGGLES, I SAID," she continued before Harry stopped his rant.

"What did you say?" he asked. "You told Dumbledore not to put me there? That's rich of him not to take one of his most trusted advisor's advice for His Greater Good."

McGonagall and Harry both calmed down. "Mr Potter, that's 5 points from Gryffindor for shouting at a teacher, 5 points _to _Gryffindor for having a good reason to. Pending a couple more check-ups at St Mungos, you will finally be able to meet your Godfather and live with him this summer. If he somehow doesn't pass the exams, then you will, unfortunately, have to stay with the Muggles."

"Why did you ask us here?" asked Hermione.

"With your parents' permission, of course," answered McGonagall. "Mr Black would like you and perhaps your parents to stay at one of his residences."

Ginny could tell that Hermione and Harry wanted to rush McGonagall and give her a hug, but they instead settled for the more comfortable "Thank you, professor."

"Your parents were cubs of mine as well, Mr Potter, along with Mr Lupin and Mr Black," McGonagall replied as they walked out the door. After the door shut, McGonagall said to herself, "The other doesn't qualify anymore, as he is a traitor to us all."

\\/

The last Quidditch game of the season was upon them. It was Gryffindor v Ravenclaw, and both teams were 2-0 that season. The winner would win the Quidditch Championship.

One of the Chasers, Katie Bell, was out with a cold, so for the second year in a row, Wood was forced to make a Substitution. Since Ginny had clearly outplayed Harry that year in Chaser drills, she was put in at Chaser, and Harry, as always, was at Seeker.

"OK, guys," said Wood. He was quickly interrupted by the chasers, who all said as one, "and Girls"

"And girls," allowed Wood. "This is it. This is the big one. If we win, then we're the champions. We've got two great beaters"

"Yeah!" the team shouted.

"Two tested and True Chasers, and one who is very good,"

"Yeah!"

"And a Seeker who was never failed to win us a match" Wood finished, with a glare that said, "Win or else,"

"We also have a great Keeper" said the twins.

The team flew out onto the field to Jordan calling the line-ups. "For Gryffindor, we have in Goal, Oliver Wood! At Beater, we have Fred and George Weasley! At Chaser, we have Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet! And the late substitution, with her second ever start at eleven years of age, your Third Chaser, Ginny Weasley! And at Seeker, the Second-youngest player at Hogwarts, with his fifth start of his career, Harry Potter!"

Jordan then announced the Ravenclaw team, who had a very pretty Asian girl named Cho Chang as their Seeker. Harry and Ginny weren't thinking about that, though. They were thinking about trying to win their Gryffindor its Second Quidditch Cup in as many years.

For one team, the game was a very good game. For the other team, it was complete domination against them. Ginny managed to score ten goals and five assists by the time the game was over with a Harry Potter catch at the 72 minute mark. The final score was 500-20 to Gryffindor. The teams shook each others hands, and McGonagall brought the Quidditch trophy and presented it to Wood, who then gave it to Harry, who gave it to Ginny.

The day before the exams started, at breakfast, McGonagall banged her goblet with her fork. "Can I have your attention, please?" everybody quieted down, as they wanted to see what she had to say. "As you all know, our Headmaster was seriously wounded a couple of months ago in a battle with suspected Death Eaters at the Ministry. I am proud to announce that, in approximately five seconds, our Headmaster will return!"

The room broke out into cheers as Dumbledore walked into the Great Hall. The Gryffindors all stood up at the encouragement of Harry, as he knew that was an honour in the Muggle world to give someone a 'Standing ovation.' Ginny could tell the look on the Headmaster's face. He was happy to be back, and frankly seemed to be a little embarrassed at the attention he was getting, even though he was the Chief Warlock. He waved his hands in a quieting motion.

"I appreciate the welcome you are giving me," he said after the applause died down. "And I am very touched. I would like to ask that you give Deputy-Headmistress McGonagall a round of applause for her excellent work these last couple of months."

The applause was once again deafening. Percy Weasley was the first to stand this time, followed by the other Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl.

"I also wish you well on your exams," said the Headmaster as he sat down at his throne. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to eat breakfast."

The next couple of weeks were hard for the Trio, as it was exam time. Ginny thought that she did pretty well, and she knew that Hermione and Harry thought the same of themselves, although, Hermione had her usual post-Exams jitters, questioning herself if she got question 16 B wrong or if she wrote down the wrong date for the Lithuanian Goblin Rebellion.

Soon, the school year ended. Gryffindor won the House Cup for the second year in a row, and the next morning, they were on the _Hogwarts Express_ on their way home.

When they got to the Platform, there was a man whom Harry knew that he knew. The man said, "Harry?" and came over to him.

"Sirius?"

"Yep. You know you look so much like your dad at that age. Except the eyes." remarked Sirius Black.

"Yeah, I've got my mum's eyes," responded Harry as he gave Black a hug. Harry then turned to the girls. The Trio gave each other hugs and kisses goodbye, with the promise that, as soon as things were ready, the girls would be invited over.

A/N: One reviewer has suggested that Ron fall out of friendship with Harry, et. al, but I have my doubts that would work. Really, I don't have things planned very far in advance, which is why the updates are so sporadic

In the list of Death Eaters, I named a "Higgs" and a "Boson" right next to each other, which is a reference to the Higgs-Boson Particle. Don't ask about anything more in detail than that, as I don't know

Temporary Headmistress McGonagall is still using her own office (as per _COS)_ and not the Headmaster's office, as Dumbledore isn't dead or resigned.

I have also taken down the epilogue to _A Missed Traffic Light, _as it is no longer is relevant/has events/timings that are being moved up significantly.


End file.
